Astros GM Jeff Luhnow says that he recognizes in retrospect that the team would’ve been better served to be more active at the trade deadline, as Angel Verdejo of the Houston Chronicle reports. But that wasn’t entirely apparent at the time, he stressed.
In particular, the losses of starters Dallas Keuchel and Lance McCullers Jr. left a difficult void for Houston down the stretch. But Luhnow says that he “didn’t have that perspective at that point,” referring to the August 1st trade deadline and its run-up. He also noted that, “over the long term, [foregoing additions] does sometimes turn out to be the right decision;” obviously, striking significant deals typically requires the sacrifice of young talent.
The “jury’s out” on whether the ’Stros should have been more aggressive this summer, says Luhnow, who does note that there are lessons to be learned from the 2016 experience. “I can’t control what happened after the deadline,” he said. “But we’re certainly going to continue to look at every opportunity going forward to give ourselves maybe a little more breathing room so if we do lose a player or we have some underperformance, that we’ve got more of a margin to still have a successful campaign.”
The Houston GM also addressed a variety of other important topics for the organization as it moves forward after missing the postseason.
Entering the offseason, among the organization’s areas to improve are outfield, first base, and catcher, Luhnow said and Jordan Ray of MLB.com tweets. That’s a fairly extensive list, though certainly there are a variety of internal options already on hand as well as plenty of open-market (if not also trade) possibilities. While the Astros’ pen performed well overall, “one glaring area is from the left side,” says Luhnow, via Mark Berman of FOX 26 (on Twitter), so that would appear to be another spot that could receive attention.
Given the above comments about the starting staff, it too could receive some consideration. Among several wild cards in the team’s plans, perhaps, is 25-year-old righty Chris Devenski. He excelled over 108 1/3 innings, with a 2.16 ERA and 8.6 K/9 against 1.7 BB/9, though he only made five starts in his debut campaign. The “dream” is for Devenski to stick in the rotation, Luhnow said and Berman tweets.
Facilitating new additions always requires a look at the balance sheet, of course. Houston opened 2016 with just under $100MM on its books, the highest level since 2009. With about $34MM committed for next season, and some significant arb salaries to account for, there’s still room to play with. But the ownership group is also willing to bump up the club’s payroll, per Luhnow, as Brian T. Smith of the Houston Chronicle reports (Twitter links). “We’re going to have the resources to go out and sign some players,” said Luhnow.
The stated need for improvement in the outfield is a reflection, in part, on the already-known fact that Colby Rasmus is headed to the open market. He’ll do so after a disappointing campaign in which he compiled a .206/.286/.355 batting line over 417 plate appearances. Health certainly played a factor, but the 30-year-old simply “did not have the year that he was hoping to have,” says Luhnow, who adds that Rasmus “still has value to major league teams” and will no doubt find an opportunity somewhere. (Via another tweet from Berman.) But the next shot may well come with another team; the GM says that he is “not sure how, or if, [Rasmus] fits into our plans at this point.”
Finally, Luhnow suggested that the team was pleased with the performance of skipper A.J. Hinch and his field staff. Hinch and his coaches will all return for 2017, as Verdejo tweets.
The Astros got unlucky this year. Luckily they still have a very bright future
Overrated, he managed to have one decent year and then Doubleday forgot this game isn’t played on a computer
He’s not overrated, he’s accumulated so much talent that Houston is well set up for years to come.
Obviously, you’re not a very good judge of talent.
Springer, altuve, bregman, correa, mccullers, Giles… That’s one of the best cores in the league, he just needs to put finishing touches on the roster. Don’t get why you say they have no talent
Honestly, you can’t leave out Gurriel and Gattis at this point. A .250+ hitter with 25+ homer pop will always be a good part of a lineup. Gurriel may be no special talent, but should very well be able to bat .270 with 15 HR and 30 doubles. pretty good #’s for you 6/7 best hitters.
I’m still happy they didn’t add at the deadline. I don’t think it would have helped, and the organization flush with prospects.
In my opinion, the biggest area of need is the outfield.
I agree. Go out and get us Charlie Blackmon and sign a couple of relievers. That would leave a nice battle between Fiers, Devenski and Feliz for 2 rotation spots. Chapmon would fix our lefty reliever problem lol…….wishful thinking. But I like the season Neftali Feliz put together this year, Melancon has been an under rated closer, and Joe Smith is always solid. Lots of options for bullpen upgrades this year.
Astros learning the same lesson the Mets learned this year: you don’t stop when you have a good team, you keep adding and build the best team possible. They didn’t do that, they got complacent, and they paid for it.
I don’t think the Astros were complacent. They tried to get better, but passed based on price.
Also, they had multiple regression players.
Jury’s not out: Astros should have been aggressive. Unfortunately, they are going to have to overpay to get what they need and guys with no trade lists are going to have the Astros on that list.
They’re set up much better than any team in that division, it’s not even close. The Astros will be fine.
shoooot, the Rangers have all that freed-up Prince $$ to play with now
Princes contract was guaranteed.
They don’t have that free money, he still getting paid regardless
He stinks – so overrated has had way more screw ups then good moves
Bye luhnow….
Without Carlos Gomez on our team we make the playoffs. That schmuk single handedly lost 8 games for us. Worst deal Luhnow has made.
While what you say (about it being a terrible deal) is true, it really was hard to say it was at the time.
Losing Hader hurts a lottttttttttt, but otherwise, I don’t miss any other pieces that went the other way.
Took a shot, and it didn’t work out. Still loaded up on prospects. Sign a FA this offseason and roll out for next year.
Yup, one of the worst trades, I wasn’t satisfied with all them prospects that had to go for a weak Carlos Gomez, what was Luhnow thinking…. I hope he gets it together this offseason and gets us an Ace starting pitcher and a good center field bat